Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/31/2008 10:50 AM | Headlines The Attorney General's Office on Tuesday quizzed Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Maryono Najamuddin as a suspect in a Rp 21.3 billion (US$1.7 million) corruption case. Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Agusrin was charged with misusing Rp 6 billion from the province's 2006 tax revenue. "We're going on the fact he used the allegedly stolen money. Our initial investigation shows he spent the money in an investment," he said. "(Agusrin) should have transferred the revenue to the Bengkulu coffers, but instead he deposited it in a temporary bank account for his own personal use." However, Marwan said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had not consented to the AGO's immediate detention of the governor. "The President only allowed us to question him, not detain him," Marwan said. In August, the AGO named Agusrin a suspect in the case, but subsequently failed to summon him because of a months-long wait for presidential approval to question the governor. The AGO is legally obliged to obtain presidential permission to arrest or summon a governor, regent or legislator in a criminal investigation.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/30/2008 11:02 AM | National Private company PT Sarana Rektama Dinamika (SRD) has claimed its alleged involvement in a corruption case at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry is entirely the result of government mismanagement. SRD, the ministry's business partner in an online administration system, has been implicated in the case following claims by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) that it embezzled Rp 400 billion (US$36.04 million) generated from the system. Prosecutors claim the money should have gone to state coffers as non-tax revenue. SRD lawyer Hotma Sitompoel said it would be absurd to claim the company was guilty based on the definition of funding, which differed between government bodies and was now causing legal conflicts. "The problem here is clearly mismanagement within the government. When the system started in 2001, the status (of the finances) was never an issue. Only in 2006 when talks between the justice ministry and the finance ministry began was their any suggestion the money needed to be categorized as non-tax revenue," he said in Jakarta on Monday. "The government has not yet ruled (on the definitions) in any decree until now. Thus, there is no legal basis to charge our client," he said.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/27/2008 10:55 AM | National A poor approach to institutional change, along with discriminative responses to certain cases, is slowing down bureaucratic reform within the Attorney General's Office (AGO), critics warn. The Commission for Public Prosecution (KK) has said the AGO's reform agenda, which kicked off in July this year, was nothing more than a fantasy. "The reform agenda within the AGO has only been a discourse. It has been very poor in its actual realization," Commission member Maria Ulfah Rombot said in Jakarta recently. "Our investigations show there are still many cases where sanctioned prosecutors are being promoted to (higher) positions. So, where's that apparent reform spirit?" she added. Lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) slammed the AGO for its poor outline of the reform agenda. "The blueprint is very disappointing. I didn't see any radical changes in the proposal. It's just the same old story," Eva said Friday. The proposal, she added, had failed to address changes in institutional culture, one of the main problems in the office. "The plan doesn't show any efforts to improve its internal body which is overshadowed by briberies, extortions and non-service oriented officials. It did mention a code of ethics, but it's 'toothless' when compared to that of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)," said Eva, from the House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/26/2008 9:37 AM | Headlines An investigation into a 2001 case at the central bank’s Netherlands-based unit has reached a new point, with the probe now focusing on rooting out Bank Indonesia officials responsible for the channeling of US$1 billion in aid to the unit.The unit in question is the now-bankrupt Indonesische Overzeese Bank N.V., or Indover.The Attorney General’s Office has revived the suspended 2001 investigation into the alleged lending scandal following a request from Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, as the government seeks a connection to a recent fiasco that resulted in a Dutch court declaring Indover bankrupt.The AGO alleges Indover’s recent bankruptcy was linked to irregularities in several previous loan agreements. It cited the case of funds distributed from Indonesia to the Netherlands that were disbursed back to Indonesian bad debtors.Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said prosecutors had suspected there were violations in the aid disbursement by BI to Indover.“We acknowledged Indover had already collapsed by that time, but BI insisted on disbursing the $1 billion in assistance funds,” Marwan said Wednesday.“What was behind that move? (BI) knew in the first place Indover was already bankrupt, but it insisted on disbursing the funds anyway, which eventually worsened its liquidity.”

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/26/2008 11:20 AM | National The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has barred businessman Hartono Tanoesodibjo from traveling abroad so he can face questioning over a corruption scandal related to an online service provider at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry. The travel ban was issued Wednesday and is valid for one year, assistant attorney general for intelligence affairs Wisnu Subroto said. "(Hartono) is banned from traveling overseas starting from today. I already signed the letter of order," he said Wednesday. A witness in the case, Hartono is part owner of company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD) that operated the website www.sisminbakum.com. Hartono is the younger brother of media mogul Hary Tanoesoedibjo and together they are the commissioners of PT Bhakti Investama, a company that owns several media outlets in the country including private TV stations RCTI, Global TV and TPI. Wisnu said while Hartono was not yet a suspect in the case, the AGO decided to impose the travel ban on the businessman to smooth the investigation into the scandal. "Someone is given a travel ban if they are allegedly involved in a crime, or are required to support an investigation," Wisnu said.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/24/2008 10:49 AM | National State prosecutors have named a fresh suspect in an online graft scandal involving the Justice and Human Rights Ministry and repeated calls for the head of the company responsible for the website to submit to questioning. Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Tuesday former head of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry cooperative Ali Amran Djannah had been declared a suspect in the case as he signed a revenue sharing contract with the company, PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), despite knowing it was possibly illegal. The deal is believed to have cost the state Rp 400 billion in losses. Marwan said prosecutors acknowledged the fact Ali signed the deal under pressure from his superior, but it did not clear him of any wrongdoing. "We would never blame someone who could not be held responsible for their actions. In this case, Ali signed the contract even though he knew it would be problematic and he could have refused," Marwan said. Prosecutors will charge Ali with profiteering from a crime. According to the Attorney General's Office (AGO), the contract was signed on Nov. 8, 2000 between Ali and SRD president director Yohanes Woworuntu, also a suspect in the case.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/24/2008 10:49 AM | National The Commission for Public Prosecution (KK) has expressed dissatisfaction with the Attorney General's Office's (AGO) performance over the past three years, saying it has not responded appropriately to KK reports into criminal cases. Commissioner Maria Ulfah Rombot said in Jakarta on Tuesday the commission regretted the action taken by the AGO over four of its senior prosecutors implicated in a high-profile bribery case. The accused -- former assistant attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman, former investigation director for special crimes Muhammad Salim, former head of the East Jakarta Prosecutor's Office Joko Widodo and former assistant general for civic and state administrative affairs Untung Udji Santoso -- all received light punishments despite their roles in a scandal involving Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds. "The decisions were made without our recommendation. But (the decisions) are not final yet. We already asked the AGO to send us the reports of their investigations into the prosecutors. Our recommendations could change the decisions," Maria said. She said the fact that only a handful of KK reports had been followed up by the AGO with internal investigations demonstrated the latter's lack of committment to combating graft. "Honestly, there have been hundreds of public reports we have sent to Attorney General Hendarman Supandji for a follow up, but hardly anything has been done at all," she said.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/23/2008 10:59 AM | National Following months of internal investigations, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has fired a prosecutor and reprimanded three others for their involvement in a bribery scandal. Assistant attorney general for internal affairs Darmono said Monday prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan had officially been dishonorably dismissed from the corps after being found guilty by the Corruption Court of receiving a bribe from a businesswoman close to tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim, who was under AGO investigation at the time. "UTG was dismissed dishonorably from his duty as a public servant. He was proven to have accepted a bribe and the court has sentenced him to 20 years in jail," Darmono said. Former assistant attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman, former assistant attorney general for civic and state administrative affairs Untung Udji Santoso, former director of investigation Muhammad Salim and former chief of East Jakarta prosecutor's office Joko Widodo were found guilty of exchanging information via telephone with the businesswoman, Artalyta Suryani, in order for her to escape prosecution. In a tapped conversation heard in Urip's trial, Kemas informed Artalyta of the AGO's decision to drop Sjamsul's case and Artalyta could be heard saying the money was then available.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 12/22/2008 11:05 AM | Headlines The Attorney General's Office will scrap 8,000 positions as part of a plan to streamline its bureaucracy in a bid to prevent corruption and abuse of power. AGO spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan said Sunday his office was assessing which positions would be cut. "We believe the restructuring program is urgent because power tends to corrupt," he said. The bureaucratic reform means remaining officials will carry out more tasks, he said. "The motto is: fewer structural posts, more functions. Where a position is cut, its tasks will be handled by another position." Jasman said the AGO was anticipating resistance from prosecutors nationwide. "A restructuring program like this tends to meet challenges (from officials), so we need to look at this carefully," he said. The AGO will present its proposal to the administrative reforms minister, the finance minister and the Corruption Eradication Commission in January next year. The program, which it is hoped will restore the AGO's reputation, will become effective when the AGO celebrates its anniversary in July. Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said earlier he would focus on tackling corruption and improving prosecutors' performance next year to fix what he called a "crisis of credibility" in his institution.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/13/2008 11:44 AM | National The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said Friday all legal documents issued under an online administration system of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry were unlawful because they were signed by a private company. Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said his office would recommend the government issue new documents to replace the illegal ones. He said the discovery was made after a series of investigations into a corruption case centered around the service website, www.sisminbakum.com, run by the ministry's directorate general of public law administration. "We found out that legal documents issued via the system, such as permits for the establishment of companies and notarial certificates, were signed by PT SRD (Sarana Rekatama Dinamika) president director Yohannes Woworuntu," he said SRD is the ministry's business partner responsible for the operation of the website and received 90 percent of the revenue from the system. SRD received around Rp 9 billion per month from the website service. According to Marwan, as a legal authority, a notary is engaged with the government in doing its job thus a certificate legalized by a notary must be approved by the government.